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"You cannot carry out fundamental change without a certain amount of madness. In this case, it comes from nonconformity, the courage to turn your back on the old formulas, the courage to invent the future.”
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Friday, August 24, 2007

LEFT WING WACKOS FOR GUNS

Most people assume that if you are a leftist, or a progressive, or just a plain old liberal you must be anti-gun. Well, I'm not...anti-gun that is. I'm not sure we need everyone armed with automatic weapons, but some guns, in my mind, are not a bad idea. I used to say "When guns are outlawed, only cops will have guns." The truth is cops and criminals and right wing nuts will have guns, the rest of America will be sitting behind locked doors hoping no knocks come in the night.

The liberal left and the pacifist left make light of the slogan "guns don't kill people, people do." Well, duh, it's true. I mean you might say some people with guns kill people. At least in this country. Anyway, come on folks, how do you propose to grab all the guns already out there anyway. Any government that can pull that off is a government that scares the hell out of yours truly.

Polls make it pretty clear that ordinary Americans are not the ones clamoring for strict gun control. It comes from those layers of society which include academics, Hollywood stars, Washington insiders and multibillion-dollar media conglomerates. I don't belong to any of those groups.

And does anyone doubt that rich people will always be able to buy guns (or hire armed security)--regardless of the law. Laws, in general, don't really apply to the rich.

Then there is the unfortunate fact (for gun control advocates of the liberal persuasion) that compelling historical evidence shows racism underlies gun control laws in this country. On March 4, 1998, the Third District Court of Appeals in California overturned crucial sections of the State of California's ban on so-called assault weapons.Although the Court rules against the ban on the basis of the vague language of the law, the Court also pointed out:

"Early gun control laws were directed at oppressed peoples, such as slaves and freedmen, and the politically powerless, such as immigrants and religious minorities.... California followed this pattern shortly after statehood by criminalizing the gift or sale of any gun to 'any Indian.'... Such laws presume the proscribed class is likely to engage in crime..."

I won't put you to sleep with any more about the the old days. Look it up if you want. But even in more recent times the truth is out there. Old Ronald Reagan, for example, pushed gun control laws when he was governor of the late great state of California because he was afraid of some uppity Negroes roaming his state capital who called themselves the Black Panthers. They carried firearms. Ron, no liberal by the way, was having none of that. The federal Gun Control Act of 1968 followed on the heels of the rioting that broke out after the death of Martin Luther King (I know shot with a rifle). But which do you think scared the establishment that passed the bill more, one man shooting Dr. King or armed blacks battling authorities in cities across the land.

But enough of that.

Let's think for a minute about those days just after Hurricane Katrina hit (hell, take a look see at New Orleans today). Would you have wanted to be an unarmed citizen or an armed one? I mean really.

One little article from I don't know where that I ran across stated:

“Waters were receding across this flood-beaten city today as police officers began confiscating weapons, including legally registered firearms, from civilians in preparation for a mass forced evacuation of the residents still living here,” reports the New York Times. “No civilians in New Orleans will be allowed to carry pistols, shotguns or other firearms, said P. Edwin Compass III, the superintendent of police. ‘Only law enforcement are allowed to have weapons,’ he said.”

Of course, the trashing of the Second Amendment is restricted to poor people. Rich people will be allowed to hire armed guards. Nixing the Second Amendment “apparently does not apply to hundreds of security guards hired by businesses and some wealthy individuals to protect property. The guards, employees of private security companies like Blackwater, openly carry M-16’s and other assault rifles. Mr. Compass said that he was aware of the private guards, but that the police had no plans to make them give up their weapons.”

And guns surprisingly are in some ways about equality. A gun can help a little old lady defend herself against some hulk of a man. Women and children are now the major targets of predators in our society. Government is not protecting them very well. Many women who work in cities know this and take courses in self-defense. A gun may be the only realistic self-defense against the sort of criminals and wackos who place no value on your life...or mine (and I'm a man).

None of this is to say that I have problems with things like background checks (No one has to have a gun today, they can wait a bit), curtailing automatic weapons (which no one really needs) and the like. No one should have a gun who has not been trained. No, I don't have any trouble with those kinds of laws and regulations.

So come on dudes and dudettes of the left, let's cast off our image as the people who just don't get it. Let's admit you don't have to be a right wing nut job or even a hunter to believe that outlawing guns is a big mistake.

Not only is that the right thing to do, it'll win us some friends as well who will realize that even a crazy left wing pinko commie can have some common sense.

Pro-gun progressives? Isn’t that a contradiction in terms? How can you bea liberal and support the Second Amendment? Aren’t guns for crazy rednecks,gang bangers, one-world fearing militia members, and violent people?

Hardly! The purpose of this site is straightforward: to end of the myth ofthe liberal gun-hater, as well as other myths about gun ownership. TheDemocratic Party and the progressive movement, no doubt, bear the brunt ofthe blame for the current state of affairs for gun owners in the UnitedStates. Someone somewhere needs to start motivating Dems and liberals tocollectively gut-check and recognize that the default, knee-jerk anti-gunstance is both a political loser and a morally bankrupt position. Mymotivation is to create a resource for progressives, liberals, Democrats,moderates, and others who share a few core responses to the discussion onfirearms in America today.

1) There are those who are largely single issue voters on the gunrights issue who do not like voting Republican for a variety of reasons, butfind themselves swinging right for fear of gun rights being retracted byDemocrats on the wrong side of the issue. Now is the time for those peopleto have a resource to discuss this dilemma. Many moderate voters franklyhave little affinity for the regressive positions today’s Neocon-dominatedGOP takes on social issues, but have no choice but to pick the lesser of twoevils and vote for the Republicans because they (rightly so) think the Demsare not to be trusted with something as important as the natural right toself-defense.

2) Some Progressives do not feel that anything inherent in theirliberalism precludes self-defense. Social liberalism is fundamentally aboutbearing an open mind and recognizing that what works for one person mightnot work for another, and thus every American needs to be free to makechoices about their personal behavior. Few choices are as intimate, aspersonal, and as vital as choosing to protect oneself and loved ones fromviolent attack. A truly free and liberal society lets citizens make thesesorts of choices for themselves and encourages citizens to participate intheir own defense. Progressives are on the right side of so many importantsocial issues in this regard-the freedom to choose one’s mate, the freedomto chose one’s religion, the freedom to chose and express one’s politicalbeliefs, the freedom to make choices about reproductive health-and should beon the right side of this issue as well.

This website is dedicated to providing the pro-gun progressive with aresource for answering those tough, nagging questions we get from our otherprogressive friends who question why we would want to own guns. It isdedicated to combating the myth that Democrats and liberals are permanentlyand forever on the wrong side of this issue. It is dedicated to helpingthem find the strength to admit the missteps of the past, and develop theintestinal fortitude to deny the reactionary right-wing the sole dominanceon this crucial issue-and if there is one issue where the wingnuts arekicking our teeth in, it is that they are doing a good job convincingaverage citizens that they are more concerned with their safety andsecurity. Most progressives and liberals know this to be, in point offact, quite far from the truth; however, collectively being on the wrongside of the gun issue is the number one thing we do to help the GOP keepwinning votes with that spurious argument. Time for that to stop. Time forthe pro-gun progressives to make their voices heard. Time for people torecognize that the protection of one’s home and one’s life is not only aconcern to radical right wing Republicans. Time for us to recognize thatthe right to self-defense is an inherent right that all human beings shouldenjoy.